Beating Ebola | Bruce Aylward | TEDxPlaceDesNations
-
0:15 - 0:20When I was asked to, invited, rather,
to give this talk a couple of months ago -
0:20 - 0:24we discussed a number
of titles with the organizers -
0:24 - 0:27and a lot of different titles
were kicked around and were discussed, -
0:27 - 0:31but nobody suggested
this one that you see here today. -
0:31 - 0:34The reason for that was, two months ago,
-
0:34 - 0:37Ebola was escalating exponentially
-
0:37 - 0:41and spreading over wider geographic areas
than we had ever seen -
0:41 - 0:45and the world was terrified, concerned,
and alarmed by this disease -
0:45 - 0:49in a way we've not seen in recent history.
-
0:49 - 0:55But today, I can stand here
and I can talk to you about beating Ebola -
0:55 - 0:59because of people
whom you've never heard of, -
0:59 - 1:02people like Peter Clement,
-
1:05 - 1:09a Liberian doctor,
who's working in Lofa County, -
1:09 - 1:14a place that many of you
have never heard of, probably, in Liberia. -
1:16 - 1:18The reason that Lofa County
is so important -
1:18 - 1:21is because about five months ago,
-
1:21 - 1:25when the epidemic
was just starting to escalate, -
1:25 - 1:30Lofa County was right at the center,
the epicenter of this epidemic. -
1:30 - 1:34At that time,
MSF and the treatment center there, -
1:34 - 1:36were seeing dozens of patients
every single day, -
1:36 - 1:41and these patients, these communities,
were becoming more and more terrified -
1:41 - 1:45as time went by, with this disease
and what it was doing to their families, -
1:45 - 1:49to their communities,
to their children, to their relatives. -
1:49 - 1:54And so Peter Clement was charged with
driving that 12-hour-long rough road -
1:54 - 1:57from Monrovia, the capital,
up to Lofa County -
1:57 - 2:02to try and help bring control
to the escalating epidemic there. -
2:02 - 2:08And what Peter found when he arrived
was a terror that I just mentioned to you. -
2:08 - 2:12So he sat down with the local chiefs,
and he listened. -
2:12 - 2:16And what he heard was heartbreaking.
-
2:16 - 2:21He heard about the devastation
and the desperation of people -
2:21 - 2:23affected by this disease.
-
2:23 - 2:26He heard the heartbreaking stories
-
2:26 - 2:29about not just the damage
that Ebola did to people, -
2:29 - 2:32but what it did to families,
and what it did to communities. -
2:33 - 2:38And he listened to the local chiefs
there, and what they told him -- -
2:38 - 2:42They said: "When our children are sick,
when our children are dying, -
2:42 - 2:45we can't hold them at a time
when we want to be closest to them. -
2:45 - 2:50When our relatives die, we can't take care
of them as our tradition demands. -
2:50 - 2:52We are not allowed to wash
the bodies to bury them -
2:52 - 2:56the way our communities
and our rituals demand. -
2:56 - 2:57And for this reason,
-
2:57 - 3:00they were deeply disturbed,
deeply alarmed -
3:00 - 3:03and the entire epidemic
was unraveling in front of them. -
3:03 - 3:06People were turning on
the healthcare workers who had come, -
3:06 - 3:09the heroes who come to try
and help save the community, -
3:09 - 3:14to help work with the community,
and they were unable to access them. -
3:15 - 3:20And what happened then was
Peter explained to the leaders. -
3:20 - 3:23The leaders listened.
They turned the tables. -
3:23 - 3:27And Peter explained what Ebola was.
He explained what the disease was. -
3:27 - 3:29He explained what it did
to their communities, -
3:29 - 3:35and he explained that Ebola threatened
everything that made us human: -
3:35 - 3:38Ebola means you can't hold your children
the way you would in this situation, -
3:38 - 3:41you can't bury your dead
the way that you would, -
3:41 - 3:46you have to trust these people
in the space suits to do that for you. -
3:46 - 3:47And ladies and gentlemen,
-
3:47 - 3:49what happened then
was rather extraordinary: -
3:49 - 3:52the community, health workers,
and Peter sat down together -
3:52 - 3:57and they put together a new plan
for controlling Ebola in that Lofa County. -
3:57 - 4:00And the reason that this is
such an important story, -
4:00 - 4:02ladies and gentlemen,
-
4:02 - 4:05is because today, this County,
-
4:05 - 4:08which is right at the center
of this epidemic you've been watching, -
4:08 - 4:10you've been seeing on the newspapers,
-
4:10 - 4:13you've been seeing
on the television screens, -
4:13 - 4:19today, Lofa County is nearly eight weeks
without seeing a single case of Ebola. -
4:19 - 4:21(Applause)
-
4:26 - 4:30This doesn't mean
that the job is done, obviously; -
4:30 - 4:33there's still a huge risk
that there'll be additional cases there, -
4:33 - 4:36but what it does teach us
is that Ebola can be beaten. -
4:36 - 4:38That's the key thing.
-
4:38 - 4:39Even on the scale,
-
4:39 - 4:43even with the rapid kind of growth
that we saw in this environment here, -
4:43 - 4:47we now know Ebola can be beaten.
-
4:47 - 4:51When communities come together
with healthcare workers, work together, -
4:51 - 4:53that's when this disease can be stopped.
-
4:53 - 4:57But how did Ebola end up
in Lofa County in the first place? -
4:57 - 5:01Well, for that, we have to go back
12 months, to the start of this epidemic. -
5:01 - 5:05And as many you know,
this virus went undetected, -
5:05 - 5:09it evaded detection
for three or four months when it began. -
5:09 - 5:11That's because this is not
a disease of West Africa, -
5:11 - 5:15it's a disease of Central Africa,
half a continent away. -
5:15 - 5:17People hadn't seen the disease before;
-
5:17 - 5:19health workers hadn't seen
the disease before. -
5:19 - 5:21They didn't know
what they were dealing with. -
5:21 - 5:23And to make it
even more complicated, -
5:23 - 5:28the virus itself was causing a symptom,
a type of a presentation -
5:28 - 5:30that wasn't classical of the disease,
-
5:30 - 5:34so people didn't even recognize
the disease, people who knew Ebola. -
5:34 - 5:38For that reason it evaded
detection for some time, -
5:38 - 5:41but contrary to public belief
sometimes these days, -
5:41 - 5:47once the virus was detected,
there was a rapid surge in of support. -
5:47 - 5:52MSF rapidly set up an Ebola treatment
center as many of you know, in the area. -
5:52 - 5:56The World Health Organization
and the partners it works with deployed -
5:56 - 5:59eventually hundreds of people
over the next two months -
5:59 - 6:01to be able to help track the virus.
-
6:01 - 6:04The problem, ladies and gentlemen, is
-
6:04 - 6:09by then, this virus, well known
now as Ebola, had spread too far. -
6:09 - 6:12It had already outstripped
what was one of the largest responses -
6:12 - 6:16that had been mounted so far
to an Ebola outbreak. -
6:16 - 6:17By the middle of the year,
-
6:17 - 6:22not just Guinea but now Sierra Leone
and Liberia were also infected. -
6:22 - 6:27The virus was spreading geographically,
the numbers were increasing, -
6:27 - 6:29and at this time,
-
6:29 - 6:34not only were hundreds of people
infected and dying of the disease -
6:34 - 6:35but as importantly,
-
6:35 - 6:39the front line responders, the people
who had gone to try and help, -
6:39 - 6:43the healthcare workers,
the other responders -
6:43 - 6:46were also sick and dying by the dozens.
-
6:46 - 6:49The presidents of these countries
recognized the emergencies. -
6:49 - 6:51They met right around that time,
-
6:51 - 6:53they agreed on common action,
and they put together -
6:53 - 6:56an emergency joint operation center
in Conakry -
6:56 - 7:01to try and work together to finish
this disease and get it stopped, -
7:01 - 7:04to implement the strategies
we talked about. -
7:04 - 7:08But what happened then was something
we had never seen before with Ebola. -
7:08 - 7:12What happened then was the virus,
or someone sick with the virus, -
7:12 - 7:15boarded an airplane,
flew to another country, -
7:15 - 7:17and for the first time,
-
7:17 - 7:22we saw in another distant country
the virus pop up again. -
7:22 - 7:24This time it was in Nigeria,
-
7:24 - 7:28in the teeming metropolis
of Lagos, 21 million people; -
7:28 - 7:31now the virus was in that environment.
-
7:31 - 7:36And as you can anticipate, there was
international alarm, international concern -
7:36 - 7:39on a scale that we haven't seen
in recent years -
7:39 - 7:41caused by a disease like this.
-
7:41 - 7:45The World Health Organization immediately
called together an expert panel, -
7:45 - 7:49looked at the situation,
declared an international emergency. -
7:49 - 7:52And in doing so, the expectation would be
-
7:52 - 7:56that there be a huge outpouring
of international assistance -
7:56 - 8:01to help these countries which were in
so much trouble and concern at that time. -
8:01 - 8:04But what we saw
was something very different. -
8:04 - 8:08There was some great response.
-
8:08 - 8:12A number of countries came to assist
- many NGOs and others, as you know - -
8:12 - 8:16but at the same time,
the opposite happened in many places. -
8:18 - 8:20Alarm escalated, and very soon,
-
8:20 - 8:23these countries found themselves
-
8:23 - 8:27not receiving the support they needed
but increasingly isolated. -
8:27 - 8:31What we saw was commercial airlines
started flying into these countries, -
8:31 - 8:34and people who hadn't even been
exposed to the virus -
8:34 - 8:36were no longer allowed to travel.
-
8:36 - 8:40This cause not only problems,
obviously, for the countries themselves -
8:40 - 8:42but also for the response.
-
8:42 - 8:45Those organizations
that we're trying to bring people in, -
8:45 - 8:47to try and help them
respond to the outbreak, -
8:47 - 8:49could not get people on airplanes,
-
8:49 - 8:52couldn't get them into the countries
to be able to respond. -
8:52 - 8:58In that situation, ladies and gentleman,
a virus like Ebola takes advantage. -
8:58 - 9:03And what we saw then was something
also we hadn't seen before: -
9:03 - 9:05not only did this virus
continue in the places -
9:05 - 9:09where they'd already become infected
but then it started to escalate -
9:09 - 9:12and we saw the case numbers
that you see here, -
9:12 - 9:15something we never seen
before on such a scale, -
9:15 - 9:18and exponential increase of Ebola cases
-
9:18 - 9:22not just in these countries or the areas
already infected in these countries -
9:22 - 9:26but also spreading further
and deeper into these countries. -
9:26 - 9:27Ladies and gentleman,
-
9:27 - 9:33this was one of the most concerning,
international emergencies in public health -
9:33 - 9:34we've ever seen.
-
9:34 - 9:37And what happened
in these countries then, -
9:37 - 9:40many of you saw, again, on the television,
read about in the newspapers, -
9:40 - 9:46we saw the health system start to collapse
under the weight of this epidemic. -
9:46 - 9:49We saw the schools begin to close,
-
9:51 - 9:54markets no longer functioned the way
that they should in these countries. -
9:54 - 9:58We saw the misinformation,
the misperceptions, started to spread -
9:58 - 10:00even faster through the communities
-
10:00 - 10:03which became even more alarmed
about the situation. -
10:03 - 10:04They started to recoil
-
10:04 - 10:08from those people that you saw
in those space suits, as they call them, -
10:08 - 10:10who had come to help them.
-
10:10 - 10:12And then the situation
deteriorated even further: -
10:12 - 10:15the countries had to declare
a state of emergency, -
10:15 - 10:21large populations need to be quarantined
in some areas, and then riots broke out. -
10:21 - 10:24It was a very, very terrifying situation.
-
10:24 - 10:27And the world, many people began to ask:
-
10:27 - 10:31"Can we ever stop Ebola
when it starts to spread like this?" -
10:31 - 10:36And they started to ask: "How well
do we really know this virus?" -
10:36 - 10:39The reality is we don't know
Ebola extremely well. -
10:39 - 10:43It's a relatively modern disease
in terms of what we know about it -
10:43 - 10:45we've known the disease only for 40 years
-
10:45 - 10:49since it first popped up
in Central Africa in 1976. -
10:49 - 10:52But despite that, we do know many things:
-
10:52 - 10:56we know that this virus probably
survives in a type of a bat, -
10:56 - 10:59we know that it probably enters
a human population -
10:59 - 11:02when we come in contact with a wild animal
-
11:02 - 11:05that has been infected with the virus
and probably sickened by it. -
11:05 - 11:09Then we know that the virus
spreads from person to person -
11:09 - 11:11through contaminated body fluids.
-
11:11 - 11:12And as you've all seen,
-
11:12 - 11:15we know the horrific disease
that it then causes in humans, -
11:15 - 11:20where we see this disease causes
severe fevers, diarrhea, vomiting, -
11:20 - 11:26and then, unfortunately, and in 70%
of the cases or often more, death. -
11:26 - 11:32This is a very dangerous,
debilitating, and deadly disease. -
11:32 - 11:36But despite the fact that we've not known
this disease for a particularly long time, -
11:36 - 11:41and we don't know everything about it,
we do know how to stop this disease. -
11:41 - 11:45There are four things
that are critical to stopping Ebola. -
11:45 - 11:49First and foremost, the communities
have got to understand this disease, -
11:49 - 11:53they've got to understand
how it spreads and how to stop it. -
11:53 - 11:55And then we've got
to be able to have systems -
11:55 - 11:59that could find every single case,
every contact of those cases, -
11:59 - 12:03and begin to track the transmission chain
so that you can stop transmission. -
12:03 - 12:07We have to have treatment centers,
specialized Ebola treatment centers, -
12:07 - 12:09where the workers can be protected
-
12:09 - 12:14as they try to provide support
to the people who are infected, -
12:14 - 12:16so that they might survive the disease
-
12:16 - 12:19And then, for those who do die,
-
12:19 - 12:24we have to ensure there is a safe but at
the same time dignified burial process, -
12:24 - 12:28so that there is no spread
at that time as well. -
12:28 - 12:32So we do know how to stop Ebola,
-
12:32 - 12:34and these strategies work,
ladies and gentlemen. -
12:34 - 12:37The virus was stopped in Nigeria
by these four strategies, -
12:37 - 12:40and the people
implementing them, obviously. -
12:40 - 12:42It was stopped in Senegal
where it had spread, -
12:42 - 12:44and also in the other countries
-
12:44 - 12:47that were affected by this virus,
in this outbreak. -
12:47 - 12:51So there's no question
that these strategies actually work. -
12:51 - 12:53The big question, ladies and gentlemen,
-
12:53 - 12:59was whether these strategies could work
on this scale, in this situation, -
12:59 - 13:04with so many countries affected
with the exponential growth that you saw. -
13:04 - 13:09That was the big question that we were
facing just two for three months ago. -
13:09 - 13:13Today, we know the answer
to that question. -
13:13 - 13:17We know that answer
because of the extraordinary work -
13:17 - 13:21of an incredible group of NGOs,
of governments, of local leaders, -
13:21 - 13:25of UN agencies, and many humanitarian
and other organizations -
13:25 - 13:30that came and joined the fight
to try and stop Ebola in West Africa. -
13:30 - 13:33But what had to be done
there was slightly different. -
13:33 - 13:36These countries took
those strategies I just showed you; -
13:36 - 13:41the communities, the community engagement,
the case finding and contact tracing, -
13:41 - 13:43and they turn them on their head.
-
13:43 - 13:46There was so much disease,
they approached it differently. -
13:46 - 13:48What they decided to do was
-
13:48 - 13:52they would first try
and slow down this epidemic -
13:52 - 13:54by rapidly building
as many beds as possible -
13:54 - 13:56in specialized treatment centers,
-
13:56 - 14:02so that they could prevent the disease
from spreading from those were infected. -
14:02 - 14:04They would rapidly build out
many many burial teams -
14:04 - 14:06so they could safely deal
with the dead, -
14:06 - 14:09and with that, they would try
and slow this outbreak to see -
14:09 - 14:11if it could actually then be controlled
-
14:11 - 14:16using the classic approach
of case finding and contact tracing. -
14:16 - 14:20And when I went to West Africa
about three months ago, when I was there, -
14:20 - 14:22what I saw was extraordinary.
-
14:22 - 14:23I saw presidents
-
14:23 - 14:27opening emergency operation centers
themselves against Ebola -
14:27 - 14:31so that they could personally coordinate,
and oversee, and champion -
14:31 - 14:35this surge of international support
to try and stop this disease. -
14:35 - 14:36We saw militaries
-
14:36 - 14:39from within those countries
and from far beyond, -
14:39 - 14:41coming in to help build
Ebola treatment centers -
14:41 - 14:45that could be used to isolate
those who are sick. -
14:45 - 14:47We saw the Red Cross Movement
-
14:47 - 14:49working with its partner agencies
on the ground there -
14:49 - 14:55to help train the community so that they
could actually safely bury their dead -
14:55 - 14:57in a dignified manner themselves.
-
14:57 - 15:00And we saw the UN agencies,
the World Food Program, -
15:00 - 15:03build a tremendous air bridge
that could get responders -
15:03 - 15:06to every single corner
of these countries rapidly -
15:06 - 15:09to be able to implement the strategies
that we just talked about. -
15:09 - 15:13What we saw, ladies and gentlemen,
which is probably most impressive, -
15:13 - 15:16was this incredible work
by the governments, -
15:16 - 15:19by the leaders in these countries,
with the communities, -
15:19 - 15:22to try insure
people understood this disease, -
15:22 - 15:27understood the extraordinary things
they'd have to do to try and stop Ebola. -
15:27 - 15:29And as a result, ladies and gentlemen,
-
15:29 - 15:34we saw something that we did not know
only two or three months earlier, -
15:34 - 15:36whether or not it would be possible.
-
15:36 - 15:38What we saw was
-
15:38 - 15:42what you see now in this graph
when we took stock on December 1. -
15:42 - 15:46What we saw was
we could bend that curve, so to speak, -
15:46 - 15:48change this exponential growth,
-
15:48 - 15:52and bring some hope back
to the ability to control this outbreak. -
15:52 - 15:56And for this reason, ladies and gentlemen,
there's absolutely no question now -
15:56 - 16:02that we can catch up with this outbreak
in West Africa, and we can beat Ebola. -
16:02 - 16:06The big question though,
that many people are asking, -
16:06 - 16:08even when they saw this curve, [is]:
-
16:08 - 16:11"Well, hang on a minute;
that's great, you can slow it down, -
16:11 - 16:13but can you actually
drive it down to zero?" -
16:13 - 16:17We've already answered that question
right back at the beginning of this talk, -
16:17 - 16:23when I spoke about Lofa County in Liberia.
-
16:23 - 16:26We told you the story
how Lofa County got to a situation -
16:26 - 16:29where they have not seen Ebola
for eight weeks. -
16:29 - 16:32But there are similar stories
from the other countries as well. -
16:32 - 16:35From Guéckédou in Guinea,
-
16:35 - 16:39the first area where the first case
was actually diagnosed. -
16:39 - 16:44We've seen very, very few cases
in the last couple of months, -
16:44 - 16:48and here in Kenema, in Sierra Leone
- another area in the epicenter - -
16:48 - 16:52we have not seen the virus
for more than a couple of weeks. -
16:52 - 16:55Way too early to declare
victory, obviously, -
16:55 - 16:57but evidence, ladies and gentlemen,
-
16:57 - 17:00not only can the response
catch up to the disease -
17:00 - 17:03but this disease can be driven to zero.
-
17:03 - 17:07The challenge now, of course,
is doing this on the scale needed -
17:07 - 17:13right across these three countries,
and that is a huge challenge. -
17:13 - 17:18Because when you've been at
something for this long, on this scale, -
17:18 - 17:22two other big threats
come in to join the virus. -
17:22 - 17:25The first of those is complacency,
-
17:25 - 17:28the risk that as this disease curve
starts to bend, -
17:28 - 17:31the media look elsewhere,
the world looks elsewhere. -
17:31 - 17:33Complacency's always a risk.
-
17:33 - 17:36And the other risk, of course, is
when you've been working so hard -
17:36 - 17:40for so long and slept so few hours
over the past months, -
17:40 - 17:43people are tired, people become fatigued,
-
17:43 - 17:47and these new risks
start to creep into the response. -
17:47 - 17:52Ladies and gentlemen, I can tell you today
I've just come back from West Africa. -
17:52 - 17:55The people of this countries,
the leaders of these countries, -
17:55 - 17:57are not complacent.
-
17:57 - 18:01They want to drive Ebola
to zero in their countries. -
18:01 - 18:04And these people, yes they're tired,
but they are not fatigued. -
18:04 - 18:07They have an energy, they have a courage,
-
18:07 - 18:09they have the strength
to get this finished. -
18:09 - 18:12What they need,
ladies and gentlemen, at this point, -
18:12 - 18:15is the unwavering support
of the international community, -
18:15 - 18:18to stand with them, to bolster,
-
18:18 - 18:21and bring even more support
at this time, to get the job finished. -
18:21 - 18:25Because finishing Ebola right now means
-
18:25 - 18:28turning the tables on this virus
and beginning to hunt it. -
18:28 - 18:34Remember, this virus, this whole crisis,
rather, started with one case, -
18:34 - 18:36and is going to finish with one case.
-
18:36 - 18:41But it will only finish if those countries
have got enough epidemiologists, -
18:41 - 18:45enough health workers, enough logisticians
and enough other people working with them -
18:45 - 18:49to be able to find every one
of those cases, track their contacts, -
18:49 - 18:53and make sure that this disease
stops once and for all. -
18:53 - 18:55I can tell you just having come back,
-
18:55 - 18:58they are not complacent,
they are not fatigued, -
18:58 - 19:02and they will finish the job,
if they have the support that they need. -
19:02 - 19:05Ladies and gentlemen,
you know the story of Ebola, -
19:05 - 19:09we just told you the story
of Ebola, Ebola can be beaten. -
19:09 - 19:12Now, we need you to take this story out
-
19:12 - 19:14to tell it to the people who will listen
-
19:14 - 19:17and educate them
on what it means to beat Ebola, -
19:17 - 19:20and more importantly,
we need you to advocate with the people -
19:20 - 19:24who can help us bring the resources
we need to these countries, -
19:24 - 19:26to beat this disease.
-
19:26 - 19:27Ladies and gentleman,
-
19:27 - 19:31there are a lot of people out there
who will survive and will thrive -
19:31 - 19:34in part because of what you do
to help us beat Ebola. -
19:34 - 19:35Thank you.
-
19:35 - 19:37(Applause)
- Title:
- Beating Ebola | Bruce Aylward | TEDxPlaceDesNations
- Description:
-
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED conferences.
Ebola: efforts to combat the unprecedented outbreak in West Africa can succeed, and have already led to marked improvements in certain areas, but the fight will not be over until the last case is addressed. - Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 19:50
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for Beating Ebola | Bruce Aylward | TEDxPlaceDesNations | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Beating Ebola | Bruce Aylward | TEDxPlaceDesNations | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for Beating Ebola | Bruce Aylward | TEDxPlaceDesNations | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for Beating Ebola | Bruce Aylward | TEDxPlaceDesNations | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for Beating Ebola | Bruce Aylward | TEDxPlaceDesNations | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for Beating Ebola | Bruce Aylward | TEDxPlaceDesNations | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for Beating Ebola | Bruce Aylward | TEDxPlaceDesNations | ||
Denise RQ approved English subtitles for Beating Ebola | Bruce Aylward | TEDxPlaceDesNations |